I have an omtech polar laser
I’m using an lg gram laptop with windows 11
Ok, I am a noob. I have been playing around getting to know my machine and software and was successful at making metal business cards and a few wood burns. Right now I am attempting to make acrylic engravings using 19x12” pieces of acrylic. (My bays working space is 20x12”)
The issue is, when in Lightburn the project is 1.9” from the right, on the laser bed it starts 3” from the right which obviously creates issues. I did a lot of reading and tried the resolution of using absolute cords (prior to this it was printing 6 to 10” left, so much so I couldn’t get the entire project done because the left section was cut off. ). At least I’m only off an inch now. But this has to be some sort of setting right? It doesn’t make sense to have invested thousands into this and not be able to align the bed measurements with the lightburn measurements? I really hope is stupid simple and someone asks me, did you enable this in settings? Boom fixed. It’s weird I can’t find this exact topic online, But I suppose that’s why this forum exists.
Let me add, when doing the business cards it was also off, but I was able to do a few test runs and get the template where it needed to be. It would be nice if I didn’t have to continue wasting materials to get it “centered” and in the right position.
It’s not clear what you’re trying to show in the photos.
In what way is the position off?
Are you able to jog to the extremes of all four corners of the machine without incident? That should represent the working area of the machine. Check for clearance as well as full dimension of travel.
If the measurement marks on the honeycomb don’t match LightBurn but you’re otherwise able to jog all around the machine then either the bed is not properly positioned or the machine is not homing to the expected position. Carefully examine the machine to determine which.
My apologies for not explaining well enough the photos were showing in Lightburn the words were 1.9” to the left of the right side but the bed is 3”. So it’s off to the left by 1.1”. I have not jogged to all four corners but I have seen it in all four. I will do a thorough check based on your advise. I think the bed is static tho so I don’t think it could be off by so much.
I appreciate you. If I can’t find the issue per your directions maybe I will do a video. I’m sure it’s something simple, I’m just a noob.
Ok. Jogs fine to all four corners. The bay is bolted down so if it’s not in the right place, then I’m not sure how to fix that but also if the jogging works, doesn’t that by proxy say the bay is in the appropriate place?
That said the laser stays in top right corner, that’s where it starts from each time. Is there some way to align the software to the hardware? I assume since it jogged as expected that eliminates hardware as the issue?
And to confirm, you’re getting a full 20x12" of travel when you’re jogging?
Not necessarily.
After the machine homes it should pull-off from the corner a certain distance. Where on the bed does it come to a rest? And confirm that you’re not able to jog any farther up or to the right after homing.
Go to Edit->Machine Settings. Read then take a backup of all your settings. Store the backup in a safe spot for permanent reference purposes.
Go to Vendor Settings and check the Settings for each X and Y axis, look for a “Home offset”. What is the value for each axis?
The X axis settings home offset is 0.500
The y axis settings home offset is 0.500
I do notice an option under move that says move from machine 0 which is off. Also worth mentioning during my attempts to resolve the issue I had read setting the laser options “start from” to absolute cords. That prob doesn’t matter.
I assume this being off 1.1” shouldn’t be able to happen at all? It doesn’t sound like it couldnt be anything I have done or failed to do in setup? Calibration failed or something? I’m gonna include a pic showing the right column of settings in case it might show you something.
I appreciate your help. I am getting frustrated. I always end up with the problems that shouldn’t happen but do because it’s me lol. Ugh. Hopefully you have an aha moment and help me resolve it :-).
This is almost certainly not anything in terms of LightBurn configuration.
If home offset is 0.5 for both X and Y and you’re not able to jog to right right or up any more than the post home position then that is likely how your machine is configured.
You could attempt to eke out some additional space by relocating the homing sensors for X and Y.
If you were to do a test pulse immediately after homing, are you saying that the mark would be positioned at the 1.1" point for both X and Y?
I’ll may have access to a Polar this weekend so I should be able to verify this behavior.
If you have full travel on the bed without colliding into anything you’re likely okay.
To confirm, what’s the largest measurement value for X and Y on the bed?
Ok, I didn’t realize it but yeah, (I don’t know how to do a test pulse) but where the laser is aiming at default locations looks to be 1.1” to the left. Although the up and down seems correct in all ways (I haven’t actually tested it because left to right got my attention lol)
There is no collisions in any direction. So I will take that as a win lol. The bed top measurement reached beyond the 21” mark (the actual bed measurements should be PROCESSING AREA 20.1" x 11.8") to the left.
Going down the laser lands right at 12”.
That said, feels like that might be the issue? It’s going too far left to 21”+ which is why it’s starting at 1.1” to the left? How do I resolve that problem?
So that last inspection made me manually see if I could move the ladder farther right. I realized there is a bumper there. So I don’t think there is any way to get the laser to 0, however the bed goes to 21” left, seemingly to account for this. So is the drive rail mounted too far left? Or is the program not recognizing the shift. But why would they not just move 0 left an inch so it would be easy to understand? See the photos below showing location of laser while against right bumper as well as showing how close right bumper is to the edge of the bay vs the left bumper being farther out.
I suspect the measurement markers on the bed aren’t intended to directly correlate to addressable work area.
A few potential remediation strategies:
somehow force a relocation of the bed
relocate homing sensors or triggers
change home offset distance in the vendor settings. Make sure you have a backup of the settings before doing this. There’s a risk that this will reduce the addressable area on the other end of the laser or potentially cause a collision
cover the current measurement markers and “redraw” them so that they match your actual laser position
leave as-is and either ignore markers or apply a mental offset. For reference, I have the same type of measurement markers on my bed and I’ve never used them.
I don’t know what homing sensors/triggers are. How strange of an issue. I appreciate all your time and assistance. You know when looking at the rail the laser is on, the stop on the side that is off (right) is closer to the bay than the other side. Almost like either the bay or the rail was put in backwards. But I don’t see any holes that are extra. I probably won’t ever be able to confirm that idea. lol.
The machine will have a sensor/switch that determines that something has come into proximity with it. The triggering component is usually some ferrous tab or part of the machine itself. There will be one set for X and Y.
This is what it used to home the machine and their physical location determines exactly where the machine stops after homing.
Once I’m able to examine the Polar I’ll have a better idea of what’s going on. Or else someone that actually has a machine currently may provide some insight.
I got some hands-on with the Polar today. For certain the bed measurements are not intended to directly correlate to addressable space. They are simply bed markers.
